LVIV, UKRAINE, Jul 18, 02 (RISU.org.ua) The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which met in Kyiv from 7 to 12 July 2002, publicized its address to the faithful on 12 July 2002.

The address begins with a listing of the important events for the UGCC which have occurred over the last month: a seminar of the bishops of the UGCC (26 to 29 June); the inauguration of the Ukrainian Catholic University (29 June), the Third (and final) Session of the Patriarchal Sobor (Assembly) of the UGCC (30 June to 4 July), the transfer of the relics of Blessed Nicholas Charnetskyi (4 July), and the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC (7 to 12 July).

"The main task of the seminar of the bishops of the UGCC was to shed light on the identity of our Church in connection with the calling of our Church in the 21st century," says the address. "We are a Church which was incarnated in an Eastern European Slavic culture and is a daughter of the Byzantine spiritual, theological and cultural tradition, a daughter which is an adult, inasmuch as she herself has become the mother of other Churches. The position of our Church on the border of two European cultures, the Byzantine and the Latin, is one with great riches that need to be drawn upon, a call to union and not the grounds for allowing us to talk about the lack of wholeness. Accordingly, we have a special responsibility to preserve our own cultural identity and to be open to the treasures of other traditions," the document continues.

The next event was the Third Session of the Patriarchal Sobor of the UGCC. "The Patriarchal Sobor was distinguished by the feeling of the unity of our Church. Great enthusiasm reigned, a desire to see our Church as living and close to the needs of the people. For this reason, to fulfill this desire, the delegates of the Sobor worked out a document '10 Moral Guideposts for the Faithful.' These guidelines are practical, related to daily life and fully possible for all the faithful of the UGCC to carry out."

A summarized versions of these 10 guideposts is here presented. A fuller version will be available at www.ugcc.org.ua.

1. Respect the image of God in each human being
2. Do not defile your own body with alcohol, tobacco, narcotics, and sexual immorality
3. Make your daily life and work embody your faith
4. Overcome discord, evil and hatred
5. Protect human life from conception to natural death
6. Preserve chastity in the married and in the unmarried state
7. Do not look with envy on your neighbor's good fortune and do not give or take bribes
8. Oppose all forms of violence
9. Respect the natural riches of the earth
10. Bring the Kingdom of God closer by your actions

The hierarchy of the UGCC called on the faithful to become familiar with this document and to follow these 10 guidelines. According to the bishops of the UGCC, the document "should become the object of deep consideration, the theme of sermons, conferences, and, most importantly, a practical 'road map' for daily life."

" From 7 to 12 July, for the first time in over 200 years, a synod of the bishops of the UGCC was held in Kyiv. In an important way we were involved with ordering the general structure of the Church: the Permanent Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, and the Synodal and Patriarchal Commissions that are responsible for the daily goings-on of our church. We determined their specific tasks and assigned personnel," the document reads. Regarding the granting of the status of patriarchate to the UGCC, the address declares that "the episcopate has accepted the decision regarding the fulfillment of patriarchal status for the UGCC and has passed this on to the Holy Father."

According to the address, "Delegates of the Patriarchal Sobor from all the eparchies and exarchates of our Church have unanimously appealed to the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC with a call asserting the need for such a change. On the whole, the Synod of Bishops has received with approval the work of the Third Session of the Patriarchal Sobor of the UGCC, which, in its turn, was the mature fruit of previously held eparchial sobors. We are once again convinced that the successful rebuilding of our Church is a matter not merely for the hierarchy, but requires the selfless cooperation of the clergy, religious and faithful. The strength of even the most intelligent decisions lies in the love that the whole community in all its stratums has for its Church and its people."
Source: Press service of the head of the UGCC

Nearly two thousand years ago, St. Andrew the Apostle stood near the site where Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, now lies and said: "Do you see these hills? The favor of God shall shine upon them and at this place a great city shall be built, and by God's will, many churches shall be built within it."

It was a thousand years later, in 988, that Kyivan Prince Volodymyr the Great accepted Christianity as the official religion of his realm. This was the deliberate act of a monarch setting a new historical course for his kingdom. It was an extraordinary event in the history of world culture.

In choosing Christianity for himself and for his people, Volodymyr turned towards the culture of Byzantium. The Byzantine empire of the ninth and tenth centuries was the leading state in the medieval world. It served as a model of culture, standard of living, and statecraft. It had attained the status to which Kyivan Rus' aspired. Volodymyr was raised in an environment which was conducive to his eventual adoption of Christianity. His grandmother, the Regent Olha, was Christian. In addition, the grandeur of Eastern (Byzantine) religious rituals was attractive to his people. A delegation from Constantinople had brought Volodymyr enthusiastic reports about the Cathedral of Saint Sofia. It is thus related in the Tale of Bygone Years: "When we came to the Greeks and they led us to the place where they worship their God, we did not know if we were in heaven or on earth. Such beauty and splendor is unknown on this earth... Surely God himself dwells among them, and their service is more beautiful than the service of other nations."

The adoption of Christianity was of enormous significance for the history of Rus'-Ukraine. It accelerated the purging of many remnants of the old tribal order, including polygamy, slavery, blood feuds, and other pagan customs. It played an important role as a state ideology since the Church ascribed all of the attributes of a Christian emperor to the Grand Prince of Rus'. It resulted in great strides in the field of education. Attempts to organize schools date from the time of Volodymyr. In addition, with Christianity Kyivan Rus' joined Slavic literary culture. The writing of books became widespread, and religious texts were translated from the Greek into the Slavonic language. Literacy gradually spread to the entire society.